Bee-smoker



(No Model.)

T. P. BINGHAM.

BEE SMOKER No. 473,724. Patented Apr. 26, 1892.

Prion.

TRACY F. BINGI-IAM, OF ABRONIA, MICHIGAN.

BEE-=SMOKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,724, dated April 26, 1892.

Application filed November 10, 1891. Serial No. 411,436. (No model.)

and useful Improvements in Bee-Smokers, of-

which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to bee-smokers and is designed to provide certain improvements upon the form of smoker illustrated in Reissued Letters Patent of the United States,

. bearing date July 9, 1878, No. 8,326.

My invention consists in providing an improved means for holding the perforated air plate or grate firmly in position within the body of the stove.

The invention also consists in providing a deflecting-hood in connection with the tapering nozzle, whereby the smoke may be directed down vertically between the combs without necessitating the change of the smoker from a horizontal position.

The invention still further consists in providing a spring-wire handle in connection with the hood and funnel to aid in removing the funnel or nozzle to replenish the fire Within the cylinder or stove.

The improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the smoker, showing my improved parts in place. Fig. 2 is a View of the fire-plate and its supporting means. Fig. 3 is a front view of the hood and handle. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the fire-plate support.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 represents the bellows, upon which is mounted the stove or cylinder 2, having the tapering nozzle 3, removable therefrom and terminating in a contracted opening, these parts being substantially as illustrated in my patent above referred to. The perforated fire-plate 4, instead of being supported by the four horizontal spring-supporting arms heretofore used, rests upon a corrugated strip of tin or other sheet metal 5, bent to conform tothe periphery of the fire-plate, against which it rests. The strip 5 is adapted to extend entirely around the stove on the inner side, except at the opening 6, provided for the entrance of air, a space being left between the ends of the strip at this point. The corrugations extend from the periphery inward toward the center, and thus provide a firm support for the plate, while the thin edge of the metal affords but little obstruction to the passage of the air.

In using a smoker in the management of bees it is often necessary to force a volume of smoke down through the perpendicular combs. To do this with the line of smoke parallel with the length of the stove requires that the stove be inverted or tipped from a horizontal to a perpendicular position, and when this is done there is great danger of the hot coals falling from the nozzle down among the bees. To obviate this difficulty and to facilitate the operation of the device, I have provided the supplemental nozzle or hood 7, of angular form, which will direct the smoke vertically downward, while the stove is retained in a horizontal position. After the smoke has been used for a time the stove becomes hot, while at the same time the fresh fuel must be put in to replenish the fire. It is rather a difficult and unpleasant task to open a hot smoker, and to render this simple and easy I have provided the wire handle 8. This handle consists of a wire having one end secured in or to the funnel and coiled about the contracted nozzle or neck of the hood a number of times. The outer coils are set out from the nozzle or hood, so that the air can circulate freely between them, and theyserve as a handle by which the funnel may be removed to replenish the fire. The handle, being formed entirely of coiled wire, is simple and not liable to get out of order.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination with the bellows, stove, and perforated fire-plate fitting within the stove, a corrugated or ribbed sheet-metal support extending nearly around the same, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a bee-smoker, of a horizontally-arranged bellows, a stove, a tapering nozzle, and the angular head for dethe coils extending out from the surface of fleeting the jet of smoke downward Without the nozzle, substantially as described. I0 tipping the sin oker, substantially as described. In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1n 3. In combination with bellows and stove, presence of two witnesses. 5 the tapering nozzle having a suitable operat- TRACY F. BINGHAM.

ing-handle consisting of a Wire having one WVitnesses: end secured to the nozzle and its remaining I. TEMPLE,

portion coiled around the said nozzle, part of E. R. CARTER. 

